Long Island, NY - September 26, 2017 - Senator John Brooks, along with Nassau County Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams, sponsored a Long Island Housing Rights & Advocacy Program on Monday evening, September 25 at the Freeport Recreation Center. Many Long Island residents took advantage of the night’s presentations, workshops, breakout sessions, discussions and resource tables.
The Long Island Housing Rights & Advocacy Program sought to provide residents with information and resources to help with a variety of housing situations that are common in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
Senator Brooks said, “This forum is about breaking down barriers and making sure individuals are equipped with the tools and resources they need to make the best choices for their families and themselves. I loved raising my family on Long Island, and I want to make sure that Long Island is an affordable place for everyone to live and raise their family – with reasonable home prices and rent as well as low property taxes.”
Kevan Abrahams, Nassau County Legislator, District 1, said, “I am happy to partner with Senator Brooks for this Housing Seminar. When you connect people with a path toward safe, accessible and affordable housing you don't just change their life, your change their world."
Informational presentations and discussion topics included foreclosure and default prevention; landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities; housing court holdover proceedings; zombie homes and land-bank programs; first-time home-buyers programs; human rights and housing discrimination; property tax arrears; home improvement programs for seniors; and fair housing rights, laws, and enforcement.
Among the presenters and discussion leaders participating were Mimi Pierre-Johnson of Mutual Housing Association of NY (MHANY); Peter J. Elkowitz, Jr., of Long Island Housing Partnership; Maggie Rodriguez, Nassau County Commission of Human Rights; Cathryn A. Harris-Marchesi, Esq., a Nassau County Rent Guidelines Board Member; Ian Wilder, Esq., of Long Island Housing Services; and Michael Raab, Storm Recovery Liaison, Nassau County Office of Housing and Community Development.
Resource Tables staffed by Nassau/Suffolk Law Services’ Seniors Unit; United Veterans Beacon House, Inc.; True Advocates for Seniors & their Families and National Grid offered help and information to those who stopped by.
Senator Brooks is sponsoring another Housing Rights & Advocacy Program, along with Assemblywoman Kimberly Jean-Pierre and Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory, on Wednesday, November 15th from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Wyandanch Nutrition Center, located at 28 Wyandanch Avenue, Wyandanch NY 11798.